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By Lawrence Wagura Lawrence Wagura Lawrence Unique Natural History Unique Natural About the Author TAITA HILLS Lawrence Wagura is a Naturalist based at the National Museums of Kenya where he has been involved in variety of biodiversity research A Guide to work. He has been conducting research By Lawrence Wagura work in the Taita Hills since 2005. A Guide To TAITA HILLS Unique Natural History By Lawrence Wagura NATIONAL MUSEUMS OF KENYA where heritage lives on A Guide To Taita Hills 3 Unique Natural History Front cover: • View of the Taita Hills Back cover: • Male Cymothoe teita by L. Borghesio • Dorstenia christenhunszii by K. Thijs • Taita Apalis, Apalis fuscigularis by P.R. Steward • Taita Warty frog, Callulina dawida by P. Malonza • Termitomycete clypeatus, by L. Wagura All photos were taken by the Author apart from where indicated otherwise. Copyright © Lawrence Wagura 2014 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owners and publishers. Printing of initial copies of this book was supported by BirdLife International as part of a project funded by the Critical Ecosystems Partnership Fund (CEPF) a joint programme of l’AgenceFrançaise de Dévelopement, Conservation International, the European Union, the Global Environment Facility, the Government of Japan, the MacArthur Foundation and the World Bank. ISBN 978-9966-074-61-4 4 A Guide To Taita Hills Unique Natural History ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Any work of this nature requires much consultation, references and collaboration of many people and institutions that without their assistance would not have been possible. I therefore take this opportunity to acknowledge them with pleasure. I deeply Thank African Bird Club For their financial support during book preparation, Idea Wild for providing the equipment, National Museums of Kenya for its support, Luca Borghesio and Mwangi Githiru who have assisted me in many ways during field data collection. I appreciate all research scientists who have tirelessly conducted research work in Taita Hills and published their invaluable findings. It is from their work that we are able to understand the area’s biological composition and status. I am grateful to the review team; Valerie Lehouck, Dr. P.K Malonza, Fleur Ngw’eno, Dr. Kariuki Ndang’ang’a, Edward Omito, Rupi Mangat, Bernard Agwanda, Beryl Akoth and Laban Njoroge. Their review highly improved this book. I am equally grateful to James Mwangombe who kindly did the final screening of the entire manuscript. My sincere thanks goes again to Valerie Lehouck for her contribution on a very informative section on ‘Ecosystem Services’, Fleur Ngw’eno for her contribution on astronomy section, Edward Omito for generously providing me with a lot of useful information on Taita Hills geology and kindly allowing me to take photographs from his collection, Peter Stewards and Daniella Rabaiotti for sharing useful information on Bats of Taita Hills. I recognize and appreciate everyone who generously allowed me to use their photos, and all who shared useful information featured in this book as well as everybody else that made this work success in one way or the other. Finally, my special thanks go to my family for being there for me throughout the duration of preparation and production of this book. A Guide To Taita Hills 5 Unique Natural History FOREWORD Taita Hills and Taita Taveta County as a whole is an area that has a rich natural history. The County’s rich natural history and natural resource base has a huge potential to propel local economic development if well tapped and utilized. A guide to Taita Hills Unique Natural History provides a visual and compelling evidence of some of the resources available in Taita Hills and the need for the sensitization on their availability, potential value and more so their conservation. We live in a rich and beautiful place that must have been even richer and more beautiful before our activities started destroying it. It behooves us to ensure that we leave a better place for the generation to come through appropriate and sustainable use. The value of the information in this publication is priceless and can only be demonstrated through the action we will take to restore the integrity of this area of endemism. It is my sincere hope that the information will inspire action among the readers. James Mwang’ombe Mwamodenyi Senior Assistant Director Head of Biodiversity Conservation and Management Kenya Forest Service 6 A Guide To Taita Hills Unique Natural History TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgement........................................................................3 Foreword..................................................................................... 4 Preface.........................................................................................6 Introduction to Taita hills..................................................................7 Location of Taita Hills.......................................................................7 Visitor Guidelines.........................................................................8 Background History.........................................................................9 Forest Fragment Overview............................................................11 Climate, Soils and Drainage.........................................................15 Ecosystem Services : The Value of Nature..................................17 Community and Culture.............................................................19 Forest Flora................................................................................22 Birds of Taita Hills Forests..........................................................27 Mammals................................................................................... 30 Invertebrates..............................................................................31 Reptiles and Amphibians...........................................................33 Natural Stones and Minerals..................................................... 37 Camping.................................................................................... 42 Recreational Sports....................................................................44 Taita Skies..................................................................................46 Taita Common Butterflies...........................................................48 Where to Stay.............................................................................51 Checklists...................................................................................52 Endemic Plants..........................................................................52 Taita Hills Forest Plants..............................................................53 Birds of Taita Hills ......................................................................60 Mammals of Taita Hills...............................................................66 Butterflies of Taita Hills...............................................................68 Reptiles of Taita Hills..................................................................71 Amphibians of Taita Hills............................................................72 Further Reading.........................................................................73 A Guide To Taita Hills 7 Unique Natural History PREFACE The Taita Hills’ uniqueness and beauty is unmatched. Cool hills tipped with huge rock outcrops that are surrounded by evergreen forests and settlement of the Taita people, offers the best landscape you can imagine. The forests are characterized by a variety of tall trees with clinging vines, strange spots of lichens, hanging mosses and a variety of orchids that are true beauty to behold. The frequent encounter with many species of all sorts found nowhere else in the entire planet is astounding. I must admit that this is one of my favorite places in the world. Welcome to the Taita Hills. This book will give you an idea of hot spots to visit and help you identify most of the unique biodiversity that you will come across supplemented with their ecology. As you enjoy watching these beautiful creatures, always keep in mind that most of them are now listed as endangered, meaning that they are threatened with extinction. I strongly hope that as much interesting your visit to these forest can be, you will always keep the welfare of this delicate biodiversity in the first place. Please be respectful and leave it intact to guarantee its future! Thank you………..L. Wagura 8 A Guide To Taita Hills Unique Natural History Introduction Location of Taita Hills The Taita Hills are located in south-east Kenya about 50km from Voi, a town along the Nairobi –Mombasa highway. The area forms part of the former Coast Province and is one of the three districts of Taita-Taveta County with Wundanyi as the major town. A map of KenyaA map showing of Kenya the location showing of the theTaita location Hills of the Taita Hills A Guide To Taita Hills 9 Unique Natural History Visitor Guidelines Logistics: almost all roads here are rough and during rainy seasons there could be huge potholes filled with seepage. It can get slippery on steep areas, so it is advisable to have a well raised 4WD vehicle to be able to maneuver around. Sometimes weather is unpredictable and it can rain anytime. Temperatures can also go low especially
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